Title: Breaking Symphonies
Author: Sparklehunter
Summary: Iruka isn't dead, but it may have been the better option. Then again, all dark clouds come edged in silver. . . .
Part, 4/6 (?)
Author's Note: Number ten, part three in a series of snapshots about the aftermath of an almost-death. Sequel to Worth Something/Name.
Author's Note II: Please Review! They taste better than dinner, and I'm too poor to eat! And stop in tomorrow or the next day for part five of Breaking Symphonies.
Breaking Symphonies
No Good Deed
by sparklehunter
No good deed goes unpunished, Saburo thinks.
He's seated beside Umino's bed, slouching in the uncomfortable chair and staring through the frame his feet create, crossed atop the white sheets of the hospital cot. Umino's got his right hand in a death-grip, and he doesn't look at the too-pale olive and winter-cream white entwined. He has enough to think about, without bringing any more of Umino's fucked-up delusions into play.
When Saburo arrived at camp, he'd already known what to expect. Little blond ninja, trussed up in a cell, the heart and soul of the enemy. Hindsight's 20/20, but Saburo thinks he should have realized Uzumaki would be gone when he arrived. He had been surprised when he found the little dark paralyzed nin, instead, and he knows he shouldn't have been.
Saburo can appreciate the brilliance of the Konoha's plan. And he'd bet good money Umino knew nothing of tactical or strategic importance. But the Powers That Be told him to break the man, and Saburo doesn't care either way, so he does as he is bid.
Umino's eyes are brown, like a forest, with hints of gold like a sunburst around the pupil. When Saburo first met the man, he'd known it would be hard to break him. Now, he knows why.
Umino Iruka's a bit of a legend. Not like Hatake Kakashi, or Uzumaki Naruto, but a legend all the same. He doesn't have their brilliance or record for doing the impossible. To an inexperienced ninja, Umino isn't anything special, at all.
Saburo knows otherwise. He's studied Uzumaki, Hatake, even Uchiha Sasuke, and he understands what the genius of the current Konoha Shinobi has been based in. Umino's the foundation of Hatake Kakashi, of Uzumaki Naruto. The two most dread Shinobi in the entire damn war, and a brown-eyed nin was their weakness. They might not stop the war for him, but the psychological attack . . . was delicious to think about.
"No good deed goes unpunished," Saburo says.
Umino's still asleep on the cot, and Saburo glances at their joined hands. "You did it for them, didn't you? But what you've destroyed. . . ." Saburo smiles. He knows, now, why Hatake Kakashi's vanished from the front lines, why Uzumaki Naruto's back at Konoha getting his belly sewn back together, why Haruno Sakura shakes as she heals. And the worst of it is Umino did it to save them all. To deliver Uzumaki back to his people.
The medical-nin wanders into the room, checks Umino's temperature and dressings, and keeps far away from Saburo. He's got a nervous eye on their hands, and his lips are bloodless. Saburo smiles.
"Iruka," he says. The Shinobi starts, so he elaborates. "His name is Umino Iruka."
Saburo can almost see the connections form in Isas's head, and he laughs. He's delighted, because Umino Iruka's just handed him the keys to himself, and Konoha can't do a thing about it. He thinks he'll buy Shiro and Goro something special, for giving him this gift.
"Kakashi. . . ." Umino says. "Ka . . . ka . . . shi. . . ."
Saburo rubs his thumb over the injured ninja's hand, and his mismatched eyes are soft. He knows what the doctor's thinking. He likes this nin, who always keeps his projects alive. Saburo's not reckless or thoughtless in his interrogations, but he's the best there is on their side. He's only called to deal with the enemy's best resistance. Sometimes, he has to go farther than the body can survive.
Isas always manages to keep them alive. So Saburo says, "Oh, he's not broken, Doctor. Not yet. But when he finds out what he's done . . . it will be easier," to let him know Saburo won't let Umino Iruka die, not just yet. Isas is a medical-nin. He doesn't like death, or what Saburo does.
Saburo laughs softly, and hums under his breath as Isas walks out.
Umino moans again, and Saburo smiles with his eyes, like he always does.
"Yo," he says.
"Kaka. . . ." Umino starts.
Saburo sits up so he can lean over Umino, brush a kiss to the corner of his lips, and squeezes an olive hand. "Morning, Iruka," he says.
No good deed goes unpunished, Saburo thinks, as Umino's eyes go wide and the man begins to scream.
TBC.
Go read Isas's view of Saburo and the hell he puts Iruka through, in 'Interlude: Terrible Things.' Please?
As always, review!